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APPROPRIATION COMMITTEE-2.020 ATM 25 March 2020 Introduction The Appropriation Committee is required to create a report with a review of the budget as adopted by the Board of Selectmen, including an assessment of the budget plan and a projection for future years' revenues and expenses. This report includes the Committee's analysis and recommendations regarding all appropri- ations of Town funds that are anticipated in the Town Warrant, and other municipal matters that may come before Town Meeting.This report is published and distributed to the members of Town Meeting as a printed document and as an electronic document via the Town website. The Committee also makes presentations during Town Meeting,including recommendations on appropriations and other matters for which the Com- mittee's formal position was pending at the time of publication. Committee Membership There have been no changes to the Committee's membership since the 2019 Special Town Meeting 41.The Committee still has one vacant seat, for a total of 8 voting members. Schedule of Budget and Report Publication In prior years,the timing of the official budget approval process required Town Meeting to defer consider- ing financial articles until the second week of meetings. Town staff have now accelerated the process, and this would have allowed financial articles to be considered as soon as the first night of meetings. The Com- mittee's goal was to publish its report a week before the planned start of the 2020 Annual Town Meeting, but we did not meet this target date. The report will still be published well in advance of the start of Town Meeting,which has now been delayed at least until April 15 by declaration of the Moderator. Reserve Fund As of publication,the Committee has not been asked to approve any Reserve Fund transfers during FY2020, and the balance in the Fund remains at $900,000. The appropriation to the Reserve Fund for FY2021 will be reduced to $750,000. The Committee has been notified that a transfer from the Reserve Fund may be requested in the next few weeks to cover unanticipated expenses for the Town's response to the COVID-19 outbreak in FY2020. Developments Since Adoption of the FY2020 Budget A Special Town Meeting was held in November 2019. Under Article 3 of that meeting,appropriations were made into the Capital Stabilization Fund,the Traffic Mitigation Stabilization Fund, and the Transportation Demand Management Stabilization Fund. Under Article 4, minor adjustments were made to the FY2020 operating budget to accommodate half a year's salary and benefits for a Sustainability Director, and to the Water and Wastewater Enterprise Fund budgets due to changes in the MWRA assessments.Under Article 8, $1,500,000 was appropriated for a study of traffic in the Hartwell Ave. area to be funded by $1,250,000 in borrowing and $250,000 from the Traffic Mitigation Stabilization Fund. Under Article 9, funds were ap- propriated for the conversion of most streetlights to LED fixtures. FY2021 Revenue and Budget The main body of this report contains the Committee's analysis of all the appropriation requests that make up the next fiscal year's budget. Here we discuss some of the overarching trends in Town finance. 2